Nude Aliaa Elmahdy, symbol of free Egyptian women?
Posted: November 30, 2011 Filed under: Portrait of the month | Tags: Aliaa Elmahdy, Egypt, Egyptian Revolution, female journalists, freedom, Nude Egyptian, sexual harassment 1 Comment »“This is not a free society if a woman cannot walk down the street without fear of being harassed, attacked, or even molested.”, says Jumanah Younis for the Guardian Egypt’s revolution means nothing if its women are not free.
Lately we have been talking a lot through Egyptian Revolution of conditions of women and more especially female journalists working in Egypt: the lack of respect towards them, the sexual harassment, repetitive attacks, etc… Female journalists worldwide attempt anyway to work in Egypt and expose the facts of current Egyptian society to the world despite the humiliating and stressful conditions of working. After a great deal of research on women’s conditions, it appears according to this video below from Women News Network that 60 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women are harassed on a daily basis. Plus read this report published by The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, United Nations about Violence against Women in Egypt.
Beyond this, Aliaa Elmahdy, a young Egyptian student, even went further in her way of expressing herself. She posted a naked picture of herself to express her own meaning of freedom of speech and sexual equality: successful challenge as her photo has been spread all over the world and has caught local and international media attention. She screams against: “a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy.” (source: Global Post). This twenty-year old student at the American Univeristy of Cairo, atheist since the age of 16 explains that she took these nude pictures and wrote articles to denounce oppression of women in the Middle East. However in a country where traditions and religion lead the people, her picture posted on her blog is causing a scandal. Is it an immoral act? Egypt is a conservative religious country and most of Muslim women are veiled and nudity is strongly frowned upon in Arabic societies, therefore people from both conservative and liberals parties are shocked and punish that action.
Do you reckon such a ‘scandal’ can lead to an open debate on freedom and conditions of women in a Egypt in transition? May it be a good way to hear Egyptian women’s voice, (quieter than their female neighbors in other Arab societies so far) ?
La femme moderne en Tunisie / Modern women in Tunisia
Posted: February 6, 2011 Filed under: Africa | Tags: charia, droits, femme, freedom, liberté, rights, secularism, Tunisie, women 3 Comments »L’actualité des dernières semaines a porté mon attention sur la condition de la femme en Tunisie où se mêlent traditions religieuses et modernité. Il est clair qu’au sein du monde arabe, la femme tunisienne est une femme moderne, une femme qui a des droits. Au cours de diverses lectures, j’ai découvert avec surprise par exemple le droit à l’avortement accordé dès 1973, soit deux ans avant même la loi Simone Veil en France, ou encore l’implication des femmes dans la vie politique du pays puisque le Parlement compte 23% de femmes.
Dès l’indépendance de la Tunisie en 1956, Habib Bourguiba, alors président de la première République de la Tunisie instaure, non sans l’influence féministe de son épouse Wassila Ben Ammar, le code du statut personnel (CSP) afin d’assurer aux femmes des droits. Tels, le droit de vote et le droit de se marier librement, l’instruction, le droit de tutelle à la mère sur ses enfants mineurs en cas de divorce judiciaire. La polygamie est interdite et aucune discrimination n’est autorisée dans le monde du travail entre les hommes et les femmes. Habib Bourguiba va même jusqu’à interdire le port du voile dans un pays où l’Islam est pourtant religion d’État. (1)
Malgré la dictature de Ben Ali et le manque considérable de liberté d’expression qui régnait au sein du pays, il a pourtant poursuivi cette politique d’émancipation des femmes. Mais voilà, aujourd’hui à l’heure où la Tunisie se dirige vers une nouvelle phase de son histoire, nous pouvons nous demander si tous ces droits accordés aux femmes depuis l’indépendance de la Tunisie sont des acquis irréversibles ou si la Révolution du Jasmin peut les bouleverser ?
L’avocate et militante des droits de la femme Bochra Bel Haj Hmida témoigne par ailleurs son inquiétude sur le sort des femmes suite à la Révolution du Jasmin, en somme n’est-elle pas la porte ouverte à un endoctrinement sur l’infériorité de certaines femmes afin de prendre le pouvoir sur elles ? (2) Ont-elles la garantie qu’elles garderont les mêmes droits dans le prochain gouvernement ? N’y a-t-il pas un risque d’une influence de certains pays où la Charia mène la vie des femmes désarmées et soumises ?
(1) Habib Bourguiba: la trace et l’héritage, Michel Camau,Vincent Geisser (2004)
(2) Les droits des femmes en Tunisie: risque d’un déclin des acquis?
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Throughout the last several weeks media attention has been squarely focues on the “Jasmine Revolution” in Tunisia. For this reason I started to gather some information about the status of women in this country. Tunisia is the exception to the rule in the Arab World when it comes to the rights and position of women. Tunisian women are free, have rights, and can speak freely. I have discovered with some surprise that Habib Bourguiba, the first president of Tunisia since it gained its independance in 1956, established many rights for women: voting, education, abortion, and perhaps most shocking he banned the wearing of headscarves in public spaces. Ben Ali, in spite of the dictatorial nature of his regime, continued the policy of emancipation for women. Recently, however, some specialists (2) are wondering if the rights given to women almost 60 years ago are safe in the current political turmoil or could the “Jasmine Revolution” reverse the trend of women’s rights in Tunisia. It is important to point out that Tunisia is the only secular country in the Arab world while many others (Saudi Arabia, and Yemen for example) are governed under Sharia law, underwhich women are distinctly lacking in rights. The question arises: will Tunisia revoke the rights and freedoms awarded to women under pressure from other regional governments, or will Tunisia continue along its path of women’s rights and secularism?
